17 children rescued from Aluva railway station

KOCHI: The Childline team rescued 17 children who apparently fell victim to human trafficking from Aluva railway station on Thursday, pointing to the fact that the railway station has been emerging as a major transit point for trafficking of children. The development comes a day after a Childline help desk was opened at the Aluva Railway Station in coordination with the district child protection officer (DCPO) of the social justice department (SJD) and railways.
“Among the 17 children, only four are from Kerala. The others are from north and north-eastern states. Except for the children from Kerala, all others have fake Aadhaar cards registered in the year 2000,” director of Childline, Ernakulam, Fr. Jensen Variath said.
It is clear from their features that all the children are minors and, yet some of them claimed that they are 19 years old, he said.
Among them, two children from Assam, claimed they have genuine Aadhaar cards which show their real age, along with the fake ones. One admitted that he is working at a hotel in Kakkanad while the other said he is working at a retail shop. Further information of these children is yet to be gathered, Fr Jensen said. These two children will be offered shelter at Snehakoodu, the home for abandoned children at Aluva. The others would be rehabilitated in shelter homes or sent back, depending on the decisions taken by the officials at a meeting to be held on the coming days.
The other 11 children are from states like Bihar and Maharashtra. “Though they said that they had come for work, it is yet to be verified whether they were trafficked for some other purposes,” he said.
Of the four children from Kerala, two were school students from Ernakulam and two others were from Thrissur and Kottayam, who claimed that they had come in search of a job. Their parents were informed and they were sent back home after counselling.
“Currently, the Childline help desk at Aluva railway station is a temporary one opened with the support of DCPO, railways and district legal services authority. It is clear that Aluva railway station is a transit point for trafficking children and to prevent it, we need to set up a permanent help desk at Aluva,” he said.